By the time the sun began to set, he was coated in dust and dirt indicative of long travel, his scent nothing but that and his own. Not because the path had been long, but because he'd made certain to make his appearance as authentic as possible. If luck was on his side, those he sought were not of the native population, but outsiders and travelers like himself who had come to the land from far away. If they weren't, well, this plan would fall apart much faster than he'd like.

Posture and body language were carefully controlled as he neared the territory, giving only the impression of a tired, young, lion, entirely unfamiliar with his surroundings. There was only so much he could do about his naturally wild appearance, but he could soften himself, take a bit of the edge off, stand a little lower - rounded and unsure instead of his more typical confidence.

Ears back, tail low, nose to the ground as he sniffed a winding trail along the outer-side of the border. He muttered softly to himself, kept his expression puzzled and unsure, paused just so often as if hesitant and lost.

sometimes, ulla isn't sure about whether or not the scent of a rogue means they want to join or they have the gall to trespass. not wanting to make it too late to find out, ulla decides to investigate. she slips out of her den with heavy steps, the fur on her belly becoming denser as the weather wanes into winter. even the gray of her coat is starting to fade, but she doesn't know if it's from age or from the season. it's best not to dwell on the former, for old age has always been a thing of taboo in ulla. how magnus keeps it from troubling him is a secret, but the man has always kept his thoughts and emotions to himself for the most part. when she nears the rogue, ulla makes sure to keep her own face emotionless. the sternness of her gaze, however, betrays that slip of suspicion as she calls out to him. this is not a land for you to trespass on, stranger. @Ryker

table by ferus

He was young, he knew that.

But that didn't stop him from exploring- or even better? Getting into business that wasn't his. Having caught the scent of Ulla, Zosimos was curious to follow her. To observe her. She was the leader here and he wanted to see what she did differently from what his father did. Chubby little paws led him onward and Zosimos watched as she came upon a trespasser. Brows furrowed at his, head tilting. She addressed him and Zosimos watched a bit more before he padded up quietly. "He don't look good." The cub pointed out with a wrinkled nose, looking at the rogue.

Step one complete. The rogue disguise was a success.

The first to approach him was a stern-looking grey woman, he flicked his ears forward to catch her words, and blinked innocently, glancing to the ground as he took a large step backward and further away from the border line, "Tajawaz?"¹. He put on the exotic accent of his mother, her native tongue flowing naturally from his own. Honestly, un-learning the accent had been harder than he'd like to admit before he'd ventured out into the wider world. "No!" he shook his head, keeping the weary, travel-worn, air about him, "no trespass. Apologies." His head dipped low as he folded his ears back against his head.

A child arrived, making observations, and it was very tempting to let himself smirk at the assessment. No. He didn't look good. That was the point. Instead, a tired smile was offered to the boy. An expression far more patient than Ryker actually felt. Neither of these strangers matched the extremely vague description he'd been given. Which meant his target was either hidden somewhere within the territory, or had moved on to somewhere else.

Reclining to sit, with a sigh implying it was the first time he'd rested in a while, he shifted his attention back to the woman. "I am...looking for someone," the words were hesitant, as if his grasp on the language was weak and he had to think before each one, "Hal yumkinuk almusaeadatu?"², a pause, "Ehhhhhh? You can help?" His expression turned slightly hopeful. "Dying man gives me message. I take to 'Sigrun', but only have a description. Man says 'find Sigrun', I say how do I find? His last breath, he says only 'black' and point me in direction." Ryker shrugged, helplessly. "I come here, I follow coast, and here is first pride I find." He let his gaze drift behind the imposing woman, to rest briefly on the mouth of the caverns, and his expression shifted into something wryly amused, "Now I am not so sure it is description of 'Sigrun' or description of place." The hollows entrance was very 'black', after all.

@Úlla @Zosimos

¹ Trespass?
² Can you help?

the sudden appearance of @Zosimos forces ulla to put on a defensive stance. the boy is a target, as is any cubs who dare loiter near the border, against an unknown rogue who can snatch them into his jaws. still, ulla will not attack unless @Ryker provokes her, even if his action already causes that. for now, the obsidian queen listens and waits. thankfully, he isn't here to cause chaos, as he makes his apology known in words and gestures. i am a sigrun ulla says. but as more of ryker's words unfurl, she starts to realize that, perhaps, the man has come too late. the sigrun he needs isn't here. you may be looking for my brother magnus or my sister-in-law, nadia. they are in scilla lagoon as its leaders. ryker sounds desperate, but most of his words are lost beneath his accent and strange language. still, ulla is thankful she's able to pick up some common tongue among them. tell me ulla begins, moving forward, but making sure she is still in front of zosimos. what are you looking for? it wouldn't hurt to ask. perhaps he may be looking for the hollows and not her kin, after all.

image © argent 2021

Seeing the stance change in Ulla, Zosimos tensed slightly, but his curiosity didn't die off. Instead, he remained behind her, not looking to overstep, but he angled to the side to be able to watch- unable to help himself. Part of his felt bad for the rogue- he didn't look too good, and from his words it sounded like he made a mistake... but were such things mistakes? Ignoring a scent? Zosimos found it hard to believe the rogue didn't smell the pride because it was almost overwhelming at times to himself.

Zosimos didn't know anything about Sigruns, not besides that Ulla was one as she announced. He frowned slightly, back legs lowering him down to sit as he plopped with a small 'hmpf'. Was it bad he had anticipated some action?

@Ryker @Úlla

The grey woman seemed to relax a little bit as he spoke, and he saw no sign that she'd taken the story for anything but truth. He could enjoy that later, for now he only wore an attentive expression as she spoke. His quarry, it seemed (if she could be believed, herself) had moved on from the hollows. That complicated things slightly, but it wasn't a problem. It only added time.

His expression turned thoughtful, as if he was mulling over the message he'd been given, and then shifted to an open, kind, sort of smile at her question. "I tell you already, I look for 'black Sigrun'. I am thinking dead man means the brother," the tone was still friendly, and thankful for the help she'd already offered, but had a subtle quality that implied it was natural to assume he'd been given a message for a man. His mother's culture...had not been kind to women, he remembered. The way she'd talked when he was a cub, she'd made some questionable decisions in her life, but even if accepting his father as a husband, and leaving her homelands for him, had not worked out the way she'd thought, she'd at least been treated as an equal for the first time in her life.

After another second or two, as if it had taken that time to get up the energy or determination to move again, he heaved himself to his paws with the air of a man readying himself for another long journey before properly resting from the previous one, "How do I find lagoon?" He would visit, and either find what he was looking for, or another clue to point him in a better direction.

@Úlla @Zosimos